CHANGES OF PHYSIC-CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DRY FERMENTED MUTTON SAUSAGES DURING RIPENING AND STORAGE

The dry fermented mutton sausages were manufactured with mutton and tail fat obtained from sheep fed in Inner Mongolia.Three groups of fermented sausages manufacture using the same technology were named control group,black pepper group and cumin group.Aw value,pH value,protein content,fat content,NPN,TBARS values and PI changes of fermented mutton sausages were evaluated to determine their quality characteristics during ripening and storage.The results showed that: The pH values of the test group dropped to significantly below 5.0 at the end of the fermentation(1.5 days) and rapidly increased(P0.05) during the ripening,but kept below 5.3.The Aw values decreased significantly to 0.85 during storage.TBARS values of the test group were significantly lower(P0.05) than those of the control from fermentation to ripening,however,it was opposite during storage and its ranges was between 1.06 and 1.90 mg MDA/kg,which could not result to the oxidative rancidity of fat.The non-protein nitrogen content and proteolysis index of the test group significantly increased(P0.05) during storage.